Listening to Bruce at Belmont

Streaming Springsteen, April 11, 2023

When I found out that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would be performing almost in my neighborhood, at the UBS Arena at Belmont Park, I gave some thought to going. Not much, but a little.

I've seen Springsteen dozens of times since 1973, every tour, into the mid-1990s, from that now legendary run at tiny upstairs at Max's Kansas City, with Bob Marley & the Wailers as the opening act. The last time was probably 2006. My Billboard buddy Thom Duffy (did you know I was third string copy editor at Billboard from 2004-2009? I often forget) had an extra ticket (we paid about $100 for great seats) for the "Seeger Sessions" show at Madison Square Garden.

I really liked that album and the show, and I took two memories from it. One was that the crowd looked much older than I had last remembered; in other words, people my age. The other was that there was one guy--one--who could be spotted lighting a joint. And I thought it was inappropriate, as the city had only recently (2003) passed the…